An action plan and a leadership kit

As a certified CEO/CXO coach, I am aware that no two leadership journeys are the same. I remember six years ago, a CEO shared an anecdote from his own life at a coaching seminar conducted by the Coaching Foundation of India in Chennai.

This highly talented business leader was elevated and placed on the board of this highly successful NSE listed company. As SVP he attended board meetings, now he was on the board. What should be the difference in his behavior, he wondered?

He contacted the veteran coach who had been more than just a coach to him and asked him how he should behave now that he was a member of the board. His coach warned him that he was now in a room of peers and that his entire leadership presence had to be different.

He is not allowed to bring three files to the board meeting. He would have to go in with his bare hands. If necessary, a colleague can bring the files. He must address the members of the board as equals. That set him on a new path and he was the director of this company for many years with great success.

While reading the book I thought of this anecdote Leadership beyond the playbook by Roopa Kudva. The author is an alumnus of IIMA, a distinguished leader and early-stage investor. She served as CEO of Crisil with distinction and went on to head Omidyar Network India, where she invested in technology-based solutions for India’s underserved population.

She has also served as an independent director on the boards of several companies (no, not the company I referred to at the beginning of this review). She has been rated ‘Outstanding Woman Business Leader of the Year’ and more.

90-day action plan

Roopa does not try to give aspiring leaders a simple ‘Playbook’. Instead, she has suggested a DIY leadership kit for a 90-day guided action plan.

The leadership kit comes after she shared her insights into what makes a good leader. Presented in twelve chapters, the book asks the aspiring leader to chart their own leadership path.

To do that, you must discover your purpose, the hidden engine that drives career fulfillment. To succeed you have to think beyond the ‘now’.

As you grow and enter the board, you need to figure out your new stakeholders and understand the dynamics. Future leaders will need to be prepared to lead a multi-generational team that is more diverse than it has been in the past thirty years.

They are not only diverse, but often also exhibit irreconcilable differences. This requires the leader to communicate clearly with everyone. Roopa recommends that leaders be prepared to face adversity and bounce back with confidence.

I wish the book had more examples of challenges and setbacks from Roopa’s own personal journey and how she overcame them. Roopa then presents leadership riddles, 13 in total; each starts provocatively but ends with a nice “that’s okay” (e.g., you’ll always see someone doing better, and that’s okay).

The final two chapters look at two areas: female leadership and leading companies with a strong social impact agenda. As one of the few women business leaders to have been CEO/MD of a major listed company, Roopa explains the issues behind the significant ‘imposter syndrome’.

She was also the head of ONI, a startup investing firm focused on impact investing in entrepreneurs and organizations serving the underserved millions. She made the transition from a for-profit organization to a company that dealt with social issues and presented the challenges that entails making the transition.

Reflection questions

The last part of the book is a 90 Day DIY Kit consisting of three parts. The first part is ‘Guided Reflections’; here Roopa asks the reader to look at 55 reflection questions, choose one or two and write down the answers.

An example question ‘Which leadership style do I naturally use?’. As you begin to fill in the answers, go back to the list, choosing the questions that interest you each time, and writing down the answers.

After you have done your reflections, or at the same time, work on your 30-60-90 day action plan. Start by selecting six actions from the menu of 70 action ideas presented. For example, an action idea could be: “Seek feedback on your current leadership style.” Even after 90 days, you can come back to this as often as you want.

The third part of the DIY Kit is a summary of each chapter that you can read to refresh your leadership questions (you can also go back to the chapter and read the full version).

The book is full of observations from the leadership journey of people like Anu Aga (Thermax) and anecdotes from Roopa’s leadership journey. I especially liked the incident Roopa shared about pitching for the CRO title. A few typos (page 80; Gen Alpha birth year 2033) seem to have missed the publisher’s eagle eyes.

If you are interested in assessing your own leadership journey, this book can provide you with some very useful insights. The DIY Kit is an added bonus that encourages you to take action and not just read and forget.

Book details

You can find the book here.

(The reviewer is a bestselling author and his latest book ‘Marketing Mixology’ presents four essential ingredients for marketing success)

Published on November 25, 2025